Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides will visit Egypt and Jordan tomorrow as part of an initiative to establish a humanitarian aid corridor to Israeli-besieged Gaza, Reuters reports.

Cyprus, the closest European Union member state to the Middle East, has offered to host and operate facilities for sustained aid directly into the Gaza Strip once hostilities between Israel and Hamas cease.

Christodoulides planned to meet Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and King Abdullah of Jordan. There were “technical discussions” on the matter between Cypriot and Israeli officials on Sunday.

The Cypriot plan is aimed at expanding capacity for humanitarian relief directly to the coastal Gaza Strip beyond limited deliveries being made through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Palestinian enclave.

Such an aid corridor faces logistical, political, and security challenges, Gaza has no port and its waters are shallow.

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